Burmese Restrictions on Humanitarian Aid Must End, Says U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee

Wed, 2007-04-25 15:01

Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune

Washington, DC 25 April (Asiantribune.com): The Chairman and Ranking Republican on the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 24 praised a new report they had requested from the General Accounting Office (GAO) that identifies the financial and other restrictions that Burma’s ruling military government places on international humanitarian assistance in the Southeast Asian country.

The GAO is the research, analysis and investigative arm of the United States Congress.

"The shameful behavior of Burma's military regime in tying the hand of humanitarian organizations is laid out in these pages for all to see, and it must come to an end,” said Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA). “In eastern Burma, where the military regime has burned or otherwise destroyed over 3,000 villages, humanitarian relief has been decimated. At least one million people have fled their homes and many are simply being left to die in the jungle."

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the committee, said that the report “underscores the need for democratic change in Burma, whose military regime arbitrarily arrests, tortures, rapes and executes its own people, ruthlessly persecutes ethnic minorities, and bizarrely builds itself a new capital city while failing to address the increasingly urgent challenges of refugee flows, illicit narcotics and human trafficking, and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.”

The GAO report, entitled “Assistance Programs Constrained in Burma,” outlines the specific efforts of the Burmese government to hinder the humanitarian work of international organizations, including by restricting the free movement of international staff within the country. The report notes that the regime has tightened its control over assistance work since the former prime minister was purged in October 2004. Most disturbing is the passing of guidelines in February 2006, which formalized Burma’s restrictive policies. According to the report, the guidelines require that programs run by humanitarian groups “enhance and safeguard the national interest” and that international organizations coordinate with state agents and select their Burmese staff from government-prepared lists of individuals. UN officials have declared these restrictions unacceptable.

Burma is ruled by one of the world's most brutal military regimes. Among other abuses, the regime has recruited more child soldiers than in any other country and has carried out a campaign of rape as a weapon against ethnic minorities. Forced labor is systemic and continues unabated despite condemnation by the International Labor Organization. Media coverage of the situation in eastern Burma has referred to the attacks on ethnic minorities as "Southeast Asia's Darfur."

The regime has locked up Aung San Suu Kyi – the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient ¬¬– who led her political party the National League for Democracy to win 82% of the seats in parliament in Burma's last democratic election 17 years ago. Over 1,200 other political prisoners remain behind bars.

Congressmen Lantos and Ros-Lehtinen called for increased pressure on the Burmese regime and raised concerns about China’s and Russia’s veto of a recent UN Security Council resolution on Burma that would have empowered the United Nations to promote national reconciliation.

Ros-Lehtinen said that “the American people stand squarely with the people of Burma; their yearning for a national reconciliation and the establishment of democracy must be respected.”

“It is long past-due for the Burmese leadership to take tangible steps toward reform, including the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, the full and free participation of the National League for Democracy and representatives of the ethnic minorities in public affairs, and the initiation of a meaningful dialogue to advance national reconciliation and the establishment of democracy,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

Both Lantos and Ros-Lehtinen called on Burma's ruling military regime to immediately declare a nationwide ceasefire and end attacks on all civilians in the country.

- Asian Tribune -

 

Khalilzad Assumes U.N. Post, but Bolton Is the Focus

BY BENNY AVNI - Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 24, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/53088

UNITED NATIONS — Although yesterday was Zalmay Khalilzad's first working day as the new American ambassador to the United Nations, some U.N. denizens focused on criticizing his predecessor, John Bolton, who has been out of office since December.

Mr. Khalilzad is expected to immerse himself in the most significant issues facing the world body, but issues were not in the spotlight here yesterday, as diplomats' conversations centered on the personality differences between the two American diplomats. Many said that despite some doubts about Mr. Khalilzad, anyone would be a better ambassador than Mr. Bolton.

South Africa's ambassador to the United Nations, Dumisani Kumalo — who has been a thorn in the side of American policymakers since his nation joined the Security Council in January — said of Mr. Khalilzad: "The good news is that he can't be as bad as Bolton."

"How does he know?" Mr. Bolton wrote in an e-mail message to The New York Sun.

"It's disappointing, coming from a colleague, to have characterization of other colleagues made in that way," an American U.N. ambassador, Alejandro Wolff, who has headed the mission since Mr. Bolton's departure, told the Sun in response to Mr. Kumalo's remark.

"Ambassador Bolton worked hard on behalf of the United States," added Mr. Wolff, who has worked under Mr. Bolton and is expected to remain at the United Nations. "Ambassador Khalilzad has arrived as a new ambassador. We have great expectations" for him. "And I wouldn't otherwise dignify [Mr. Kumalo's] comment."

While they confirmed that they had not yet met Mr. Khalilzad, several diplomats said they expected a new "style" to emerge in America's U.N. diplomacy, even as policies remain the same.

"They have things in common, both are neocons," said a former ambassador from an Arab country, who has served at the United Nations alongside Mr. Bolton. "But Khalilzad is more Middle Eastern. He is more sophisticated and easygoing. Bolton was more direct and to the point. These are differences in styles, but at the U.N., style is very important," he said, asking not to be named.

Mr. Khalilzad is set to join the 15-member Security Council today on a trip to Kosovo. He will present his credentials to Secretary-General Ban early next week — when both return from trips abroad — and will immediately assume the council's rotating presidency for the month of May.

A spokesman for the American mission, Richard Grenell, told reporters yesterday that the Kosovo trip would be an opportunity for the Afghan-born Mr. Khalilzad to familiarize himself with other council members, adding that the ambassador's early priorities would include issues involving Iran, Lebanon, and Sudan, as well as the United Nations's deepening involvement in Iraq. U.N. reform would also be high on the agenda, Mr. Grenell added.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida and the ranking member of the House's Foreign Affairs Committee, said yesterday that upon meeting with Mr. Khalilzad last week, she urged him to press the United Nations on the deterioration of its human-rights bodies and its treatment of Israel. Financing should be restructured to allow America more control.

"I posed to Ambassador Khalilzad that U.S. funding for U.N. operations ought to move away from compulsory assessed contributions, to one based on voluntary contributions, to afford greater control over how U.S. funds are used," Ms. Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.

 

Spies among us

Went to see Scott Carmichael speak at Books and Books in Coral Gables, Florida last night. Mr. Carmichael is author of an incredible new book titled True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ana Montes, Cuba’s Master Spy.

Mr. Carmichael, a counterintelligence investigator with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) hunts out moles (spies for other countries who work within intelligence and/or military agencies) for a living. His biggest catch is Ana Belen Montes, an ideologically motivated spy for mFidel Castro. She was arrested shortly after September 11 and–fortunately–before she’d have been privy to war planning against Afghanistan’s then-Taliban government.

One of the casualties caused by this traitor was the death of a Green Beret named Greg Fronius. Mr. Carmichael got emotional when he began to tell the story of Staff Sergeant Fronius, and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who had introduced him, had to fill in for him as he regained his composure.

SSG Fronius’ story, for short, is that he was in El Salvador training their military. He helped them build a secret camp deep within what Mr. Carmichael called "insurgent" territory, or guerilla territory. Because of her job within the DIA, Ana Belen Montes visited the camp in El Salvador–and she would eventually give the information of the camp’s location and forces stationed there to her Cuban handlers. Armed with this information, Castro-backed Salvadorean rebels attacked the camp, killing Fronius and 200-plus Salvadorean soldiers.

The scariest part of Mr. Carmichael’s presentation is that he said Cuba’s intelligence capabilities are outstanding and that we have seriously underestimated their abilities. He was surprised that no one had been caught spying for Castro at Southcom, for example. Mr. Carmichael believes Ana Belen Montes was just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Bush Defends Iraq War; Republicans Blast Harry Reid for Saying Fight Is 'Lost' 

 

Last Edited: Sunday, 22 Apr 2007, 9:43 AM EDT

Created: Sunday, 22 Apr 2007, 2:13 AM EDT

04/22/2007  --

President Bush fought off Democratic criticism over his handling of the war in Iraq Friday after fellow Republicans blasted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comments that the war is 'lost.'

"No matter how frustrating the fight in Iraq can be, no matter how much we wish this war was over, the security of our country depends directly on the outcome of Iraq," Bush told an audience at East Grand Rapids High School, vowing to keep troops in Iraq until the job is done.

Reid, D-Nev., fired back at Bush, saying "no one wants us to succeed in Iraq more than Democrats."

"We heard the same old story from the president today because his strategy calls for more of the same. It’s a failed strategy for our troops in Iraq, it’s a failed strategy for our security at home and it’s dangerous that the president refuses to recognize the reality on the ground in Iraq," Reid said from the Senate floor.

• SPEAKOUT: Do you think the war is lost?

Reid ignited a political firestorm after saying Thursday that the war in Iraq is lost and Bush's plan to send more troops there to quell sectarian violence won't work.

"I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and — you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows — (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq (Wednesday)," Reid said.

Bush traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich., Friday to defend his leadership in the war and to continue pushing Congress to send him a war-funding bill without a timetable to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

"Despite the initial signs of progress on the ground, despite the fact that many reinforcements have not even arrived, the Democratic leadership in Congress is pushing legislation that would undercut the strategy General David Petraeus has just started to pursue," Bush said.

"If we were to concede Iraq to basically Al Qaeda, in a sense, they would follow us here."

Republicans blasted Reid's comments on the House floor Thursday night.

"What a terrible message for our troops fighting this very minute," said Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas. "Instead of a roadmap to success, we are being asked to support a plan for defeat. We're being asked to announce to our enemies a date for surrender."

The partisan bickering comes as Bush promises to veto legislation funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that includes any timetable to begin withdrawing U.S. troops.

Bush sent Congress a request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 74 days ago, saying "our men and women should not be caught in the middle of these debates."

House and Senate negotiators still need to agree on a final version of the war spending bill before it can be sent to the president. The Senate version sets an exit date to begin within 120 days of the bill's passage, with a completion goal of March 31, 2008. The House bill would order all combat troops out by Sept. 1, 2008.

Lawmakers responded to Reid's comments, saying the nation cannot give up the fight in Iraq or it will face terrorists on American soil.

"Majority Leader Reid's willingness to withdraw and declare defeat — in the face of horrific acts of terrorism — would be a mistake for the ages," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in a statement.

Republican White House hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said Reid should be held responsible for the deaths of all American soldiers in Iraq, calling his comments "reckless" and "brash."

Some Democrats backed up Reid.

"Our soldiers didn't lose the war," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. "I maintain the war was lost the minute the White House fabricated a cause for war."

Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha said the war cannot be won by military force.

"I am proud of these troops and what they have done," said Murtha, D-Pa. "They won the war and the mission was accomplished. We cannot win it militarily. It can only be won diplomatically."

Bush met with Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday at the White House about the Iraq war funding bill and the stalemate over the legislation. Reid said he told Bush he thought the war could only be won by political, economic and diplomatic means.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., said Reid's comments tell Al Qaeda and the rest of the world that terrorists have won.

"They are outlaws. They are criminals. And we cannot concede this to them like the majority leader in the other body did today," Hoekstra said.

America must stand firm in its mission to fight terrorists, said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.

"Whether or not some choose to acknowledge it, we are at war with militant Islamists who seek our destruction," Ros-Lehtinen said. "Yet some on the other side of the aisle today announced that the war is lost in Iraq. This comment shows little understanding of the ability and determination of our men and women in the Armed Forces."

FOX News' Wendell Goler and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

US Lawmakers Welcome President Bush's Statement on Darfur
By Dan Robinson Washington 19 April 2007

U. S. lawmakers are reacting to President Bush's strong statement that the U.S. will tighten financial sanctions against Sudan if Khartoum does not cooperate fully regarding the situation in Darfur. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, the question of how effective sanctions can be in forcing governments to change their behavior was also a topic in a congressional hearing Wednesday.

Speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, the president outlined U.S. actions if the government in Khartoum fails to end its intransigence preventing the deployment of a full 20,000 strong U.N./African-Union peacekeeping force for Darfur.

"First, the Department of the Treasury will tighten U.S. economic sanctions on Sudan. This new effort will allow the United States to enforce more aggressively existing sanctions against Sudan's government, by blocking any of its dollar transactions within the U.S. financial system. As part of this effort, the Treasury Department will add 29 companies owned or controlled by the government of Sudan to its list of Specially Designated Nationals. This designation will bar these companies from the U.S. financial system -- and make it a crime for American companies and individuals to willfully do business with them," he said.

In addition, the president says the U.S. would target sanctions against individuals responsible for violence in Darfur, measures he says would cut them off from the U.S. financial system and prevent them from doing business with any American citizen or company.

A few hours later, a House subcommittee on terrorism, trade and nonproliferation convened a hearing to examine the question of how effective sanctions can be.

"In looking at the objectives we are trying to achieve, it is to turn to those proliferating and terrorist countries and limit or eliminate loans to their government, investments in their oil sector, all the other investments, and their non-energy exports," he said.

Republican Congressman Ed Royce referred to President Bush's remarks on Sudan and Darfur, saying it appears the U.S. is finally turning up the financial heat on the government in Khartoum.

However, Royce says he would like to have seen stronger steps from the president. "I am disappointed that the president did not go farther this morning, during his Sudan speech, and give [the U.S. Treasury Department] the green light to cut off Sudan's dollar transactions with the U.S. financial system. We have waited long enough. I have been to Darfur, I have been to camps that have been attacked [and] talked to survivors. Genocide is indeed occurring there. It is time for the U.S. to take this kind of decisive action," he said.

In other reaction, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who recently visited Sudan as part of a small congressional delegation said the president delivered a clear message that half measures and disingenuous gestures by authorities in Khartoum will no longer be tolerated.

Wednesday's hearing focused primarily on the impact of sanctions on Iran and North Korea, along with some mention of Syria and Cuba.

Sanctions are most effective, U.S. officials told lawmakers, when they are part of a multilateral financial and diplomatic strategy. "Targeted or calibrated sanctions make it clear that we are not taking aim, for example, at innocent civilian populations but rather at those individuals or entities who are specifically responsible for the dangerous behavior of a particular regimem," said Paul Simons, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs.

Adam Szubin is Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. "By moving in tandem with rather than against the natural inclinations of the private sector, our sanctions have resonated across the international financial sphere, delivering a widespread and tangible impact," he said.

Where Sudan is concerned, legislation moving through the House would require the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to compile a list of all companies on the New York Stock Exchange with ties to Khartoum, and prohibit them from receiving federal contracts, and make it legal for U.S. states to divest from such companies.

Sarah Steelman, treasurer for the state of Missouri, spoke in favor of such legislation. "A recent poll conducted for the Center for Security Policy showed that more than 80 percent of those surveyed say that if they learned that a company in which they have invested was found to be doing business in a state sponsor of terrorism, like Iran, Syria or Sudan, they would either sell that investment or demand the company cease doing business with the terror supporting nation," he said.

Roger Robinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conflict Securities Advisory Group, says the impact of divestment efforts on regimes, especially by companies involved in the energy sector, would be significant.

He asserts there is wide support in the U.S. for terror-free, or in the case of Sudan, genocide free investment. "There is no question therefore that given a choice, American investors would prefer to avoid doing business with companies that have those types of material business arrangements with these regimes," he said.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, are stepping up their own personal and diplomatic efforts regarding Darfur.

Against the background of ongoing efforts by the Congressional Black Caucus, House majority leader Steny Hoyer recently went to Sudan, meeting with southern government leaders, visiting displaced persons camps in Darfur, and assessing African Union peacekeeping efforts.

Hoyer also used a meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak in Cairo to urge stronger diplomatic pressure on Khartoum, and said Egypt's ambassador in Washington telephoned him to say President Mubarak had followed through with a pledge to act, although it is not clear exactly what form that took.

 

River dredging will be resumed with $3.5 million US grant

By Eric Kalis
   Congress awarded $3.5 million last week for the US Army Corps of Engineers to resume a $74 million Miami River dredging project, river officials say.
   The congressional appropriation, with $3.5 million awarded in 2006, leaves the corps with enough funding to initiate the next two phases of dredging as soon as July, river officials say. The corps completed six of 15 phases before work was stopped in late 2005 as funds were depleted.
   "This $3.5 million will be crucial to the continued dredging of the Miami River and overall health of this important waterway," said US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, a dredging proponent. "A clean and deep river will ensure that our South Florida community continues to grow economically and provide the necessary jobs that are crucial for our economy. I applaud this effort, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the river's appropriations for 2008."
   The most recent federal funding provides a short-term fix for the corps, said Eric Buermann, chairman of the Miami River Commission Dredging Committee, who said about $26 million will be needed to complete the project. It will take corps contractors up to two months to mobilize before work can resume, he said, so obtaining further funds is critical.
   Having $7 million in available federal funds "does not move the ball far enough down the field to do more than a couple of sections," he said. "We are trying to put the funding into place so the corps can stay in the river for a long time. It is very expensive to demobilize."
   An urgency to finish dredging is further intensified by the expiration of the corps' contract in April 2009, leaving only two federal budget cycles to make up the funding difference, Mr. Buermann said.
   The current contract is based on 2004 prices per cubic yard removed, river officials say. If the contract expires, a new deal would be much more expensive and require further contributions from federal, state and local officials, Mr. Buermann said.
   "The clock is ticking on the contract," Mr. Buermann said. "It may seem like a long way from now, but time is getting away from us. If the contract expired, instead of needing $26 million, we might need four times as much."
   Project proponents say completing the project would result in a cargo trade boom, commercial and residential development and 350 jobs at the Merrill-Stevens ship-repair yard. Merrill-Stevens plans to build a $55 million facility to repair 250-foot mega-yachts once dredging is completed.
   Leaving the project incomplete would make the efforts of the past few years "useless," Mr. Buermann said.
   River officials are working on several funding options. The Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management has requested $13.8 million from the state for the project. River officials say they are exploring federal grant opportunities and an advanced funding agreement in which local officials would pay the remaining federal cost share with hopes — but no guarantee — of being reimbursed later.
   The Miami River is the fourth-busiest seaport in the state in terms of cargo tonnage, river officials say.

 

Haitian-American Army veteran enters second week of hunger strike

BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MIAMI -- A Haitian-American U.S. Army veteran entered the second week of a
hunger strike Tuesday to protest the detention of 101 Haitian migrants who
landed in South Florida in a dilapidated sailboat.

Henri Petithomme, 32, is only drinking water and Gatorade and spoke in barely
audible sentences as he described his goals.

He wants the migrants released to their families as they await their
deportation hearings so they can work closely with their attorneys to prepare
their cases. Ultimately, he hopes the U.S. will give temporary legal status to
Haitians already in the country, as it has done in the past for citizens of
several Central American nations.

Petithomme represents a new generation of Haitian activists who have grown up
in the U.S. His Haitian parents brought him to Miami when he was 3 and he
speaks Creole with an American accent. He has had little direct experience with
the upheaval that has beset Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

But Petithomme said seeing the migrants starving and gaunt as they came off the
boat awoke something in him.

"I felt a calling," Petithomme said Monday, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with
one of his homeland's founding fathers as he rested on a pew at St. Paul
Episcopal Church in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood.

"This is a peaceful way of accomplishing a goal, the same way Martin Luther
King and Mahatma Gandhi used," he added.

Images of the Haitians' arrival March 28 brought an outcry from the Haitian
community. A week later, more than 1,000 people protested their detention
outside Miami's central federal immigration office.

As a result of the outcry, advocates lined up free attorneys for the entire
group, including roughly a dozen children. At least half a dozen migrants
passed the first step needed to seek asylum by demonstrating to an immigration
officer they have a "credible threat" of persecution if they return to Haiti.
Now they must plead their case before an immigration judge.

Unlike Cubans, who are generally allowed to stay if they reach U.S. soil
illegally, most Haitians who make similar trips are sent back.

But immigration advocates are particularly outraged that the U.S. government
detains Haitians until a decision is made either way.

The government has cited potential terrorist threats as the reason, even though
Haiti is not on the list of nations the Department of Homeland Security
considers of "special interest" because of alleged support of terrorism. Cuba
is on that list.

A message left for Homeland Security officials was not immediately returned
Tuesday.

Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center director Cheryl Little warned that unless
they are released from detention, the Haitians will be ill-prepared for their
hearings.

"A lot of (pro bono) lawyers don't have time to go out to the detention centers
and wait hours to see their clients before the hearings," she said.

Petithomme's campaign has garnered the attention of several Florida
congressional members. Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek visited him and sent
a letter Petithomme wrote to the White House. Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen read the Bible with him Monday.

"We've got to make sure they have a fair system so they have proper access to
legal advocates," she said. "I don't think that's happening now."

 Local Leaders Offer Condolences For VT Victims

(CBS4) TALLAHASSEE Florida state leaders continue to offer their condolences to
the families and loved ones who were killed Monday during the massacre on the
campus of Virginia Tech.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen issued a statement on Tuesday, sending words
of encouragement from the South Florida.

``On behalf of the citizens of South Florida, I would like to express our
sadness to the families of the victims and to the Virginia Tech Community and
send them our sympathies and our prayers,� said Ros-Lehtinen. �We
are all part of the Virginia Tech family and we grieve together as we cope with
this devastating tragedy.''

The tragedy hit home for Ros-Lehtinen, who has two children in college.

"As a mother of two daughters in college, my heart goes out to those grieving
families whose lives have been shattered by this shocking and senseless crime.
It is a tragedy of deep impact on our nation's collective soul."

On Tuesday, President Bush issued a proclamation that the display of the flag
of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all state property, in
memory of the victims of the tragic shooting through Sunday.

Governor Charlie Crist, in accordance with the proclamation issued by President
Bush, has asked that all state and local governments join him in memory of the
victims of the tragic shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech by lowering their
United States and State flags to half-staff.

 

Bill to help Holocaust victims with insurance claims

By Lisa J. Huriash
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted April 17 2007

Two South Florida members of Congress are sponsoring a bill that would require insurance companies doing business in the United States to publicly disclose all Holocaust-era insurance policies. The bill would allow Holocaust victims and their heirs to bring action in U.S. courts to resolve claims. The Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act of 2007 is being sponsored by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, and Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton. Many Holocaust survivors are unable to claim their benefits. The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims was supposed to help Jews who lost their homes, businesses and possessions, but it has paid fewer than 5 percent of the policies estimated to have been sold to Jews prior to World War II. And the ICHEIC process has recently closed, which means no more Holocaust-era insurance claims can be brought. The bill cites experts who estimate that the value in 2006 of unpaid life, annuity, endowment and dowry insurance theft from European Jews range between $17 billion and $200 billion. Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2008.

 

Ros-Lehtinen Expresses Sadness and Shock
Over Virginia Tech Tragedy

 

(MIAMI) - U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), released the following statement in response to Monday's tragedy at Virginia Tech University:

"As a mother of two daughters in college, my heart goes out to those grieving families whose lives have been shattered by this shocking and senseless crime. It is a tragedy of deep impact on our nation's collective soul."

`` On behalf of the citizens of South Florida, I would like to express our sadness to the families of the victims and to the Virginia Tech Community and send them our sympathies and our prayers. Today we are all part of the Virginia Tech family and we grieve together as we cope with this devastating tragedy.''

 New Fight Brewing On PA Aid, Contacts Florida rep.’s tough new bill could set stage for clash with administration as diplomacy quickens. James D. Besser - Washington Correspondent

With the pace of U.S. Mideast diplomacy quickening, the congressional battle over aid and diplomatic contact with the Palestinian Authority may be about to erupt anew as a leading pro-Israel congresswoman tries to throw new hurdles in the path of the Bush administration.

Late last week the office of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) — the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — floated new legislation toughening sanctions on the PA in the wake of last month’s establishment of a “unity government.”

That comes only months after Congress passed the softer Senate version of the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act (PATA) despite fierce lobbying by groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which favored a more stringent version passed by the House.

In a memo to fellow foreign policy staffers, obtained by The Jewish Week, a top Ros-Lehtinen aide made the goals of the expected bill explicit: “To counter attempts by Rice/State to deal with unity govt [sic] and send assistance to non-Hamas members of unity government.”

That puts Ros-Lehtinen and other key lawmakers who are likely to support the new legislation — as well as the pro-Israel lobby — on a collision course with the Bush administration, which continues to explore ways to work with Palestinian “moderates” while maintaining the economic and diplomatic boycott on Hamas, a partner in the new Palestinian unity government.

“It’s a pointless exercise designed to do nothing more than try to thwart Secretary Rice,” said M.J. Rosenberg, Washington director for the Israel Policy Forum (IPF), a group that supports stronger U.S. peace efforts in the region. “The Senate rejected this language last year, when the Republicans were in control, and they will certainly reject it this time around.”

A longtime pro-Israel activist here said that “it’s an effort to box the administration in and send a message that Congress doesn’t want to see any movement, any real contact, as long as Hamas has any part in this government and as long as it doesn’t accept the internationally mandated conditions for ending the boycott.”

But the pro-Israel lobby is quietly expressing concerns that the administration may be too eager to deal with members of the unity government like Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and too willing to provide humanitarian and security assistance that could benefit Hamas.

U.S. humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians has increased, from $400 million in 2005 to $460 million last year. Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad is scheduled to travel to Europe early this month to press for a resumption of EU aid in the wake of the creation of a Hamas-Fatah unity government in March.

There are indications key pro-Israel members of Congress are willing to cut the Bush administration some slack in providing some kinds of aid to the Palestinians under the new unity government.

In February, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester) held up an administration request for $86 million in aid to build up security forces loyal to Abbas because she said the administration did not provide sufficient information about how the money would be used.

But last week the pro-Israel lawmaker, a powerhouse in the foreign policy appropriations process, lifted the hold after the administration came back with a smaller and more targeted request.

Lowey said she remains “extremely troubled that the unity government has not met basic conditions necessary to be a real partner for peace with Israel and the United States,” but that she will not block the new request for $59 million.

“This new request focuses on training and non-lethal equipment for the Presidential Guard under President Abbas and improving the physical security infrastructure on the Palestinian side of the Karni/al-Mintar crossing point between Gaza and Israel, which is Gaza’s economic lifeline,” she said. “By improving efficiency and security at this critical commercial crossing, this assistance will help to improve the security at Karni and, ultimately, economic conditions for the Palestinian people.”

The new request, she said, may help “engage and strengthen moderate voices in the West Bank and Gaza.”

That’s consistent with the positions of the Israeli government, but some pro-Israel activists here and some members of Congress still worry that the administration is gradually easing its boycott of the Hamas-led PA.

The expected new fight over Palestinian aid and diplomatic contacts also comes on the heels of Rice’s fourth trip to the region last week. Rice won an agreement from Abbas and Olmert to hold biweekly talks on day-to-day issues, but agreed not to press for immediate talks on final-status issues after meeting stiff resistance from the Olmert government.

Few observers expect any more than a U.S. diplomatic holding action.

“It’s peace processing, not peace making,” said Judith Kipper, adviser for Middle East Programs at the Council on Foreign Relations. “It may reduce some tension, but it doesn’t change things, despite raised expectations.”

Still, groups on the right and many lawmakers are worried that Washington will succumb to international pressure.

Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said his group supports the pending House measure.

“We need the strongest legislation we can get to bring President Bush back to his senses,” Klein said. “He should be as tough on Abbas as he is on Hamas and al Qaeda.”

The administration, Klein charges, is “softening” its approach to a Palestinian Authority still dominated by Hamas.

“Rice is promoting this faction that Abbas is a peacemaker and that the Palestinian Arabs want peace,” he said. “So we have to make the legislation even stronger.”

Ros-Lehtinen’s new legislation would take “current law and bring it to the threshold of the House-passed PATA,” according to a memo sent to House Foreign Affairs committee staffers.

The new legislation notes the creation of the new Palestinian unity government and restates the demands of the international Quartet for easing the boycott against the PA, including recognition of Israel, agreeing to abide by previous agreements and ending terrorism.

It also would extend sanctions — even if Hamas loses influence within the PA — and bar all PA officials, including Abbas, from receiving U.S. visas.

But groups on the left say the proposed legislation is really aimed at undercutting U.S. peace efforts, which have been ratcheted up a notch with Rice’s fourth trip to the region last week.

 

Jeff Riedinger: Congress, boost study abroad

Never before has it been more important to send our children out into the world.

That used to mean leaving their home, or possibly their hometown.

Now, we are literal: Go out and engage the world because the world needs us and we need the world.

Two identical bills in Congress lend support to this idea. (The Senate version was introduced March 27 and is awaiting action. The House version was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee on March 27 and is awaiting action by the full House.)

The Senate bill (S. 991), introduced by Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Norm Coleman, R-Minn., along with more than 20 original co-sponsors, aims to establish a national study abroad fellowship program.

The goal is to increase the numbers of students studying abroad to 1 million per year in 10 years. The program would be administered independently and would include a competitive grants program for colleges and universities, and make study abroad opportunities more diverse in terms of participants, fields of study and destinations.

In the House, a sister bill was introduced by Reps. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mirroring each other, sponsors on both floors specifically cited the foreign policy challenges facing the United States as a central reason for the need to expand Americans' knowledge of other cultures and foreign languages. The bill focuses particular attention on encouraging more students to study abroad in nontraditional destinations, especially in the developing world.

That's exhilarating. A message that has been close to Michigan State University's mission now has formally entered national policy.

Our accomplishments in study abroad programming are renowned. With more than 230 programs in more than 60 countries offered in all seven continents, it is easy to see why MSU ranks No. 1 among all public universities in the U.S for study abroad. That is according to Open Doors 2006, the annual report on international education by the Institute of International Education.

MSU study abroad programs also are among the most flexible, offering programs during summer, winter and spring breaks, fall and spring semesters, and for the entire academic year. New programs are constantly being developed.

Going into the world can also mean bringing the world to us. MSU is constantly developing new ways to gain greater understanding of the world. For instance, MSU is seeking to strengthen and internationalize the on-campus experience for our students.

This will enhance the international learning competencies that reflect the knowledge, attitudes, and skills essential to any MSU graduate living and working as a global citizen anywhere in the world. Significant to this thinking is the more than 3,330 international students from more than 125 countries studying at MSU.

This effort provides a much needed boost to these efforts. We hope Congress will enact the idea - and that it is funded, too.

 

A day to pray for victims of the Holocaust

 

Gas OPEC: A Stealthy Cartel Emerges
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., 4/16/2007 9:43:05 AM

Steadily and stealthily, a natural gas cartel is emerging. The Gas Exporting Countries' Forum is the brainchild of some of the world's least democratic countries—Iran, Qatar, Hugo Chavez's Venezuela—and it took a step toward emergence at a meeting in Doha, Qatar, on April 9.[1] The cartel is led by those who stand to benefit most from its future geopolitical muscle: Russia and Iran, and specifically President Vladimir Putin and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The United States should create a global coalition of energy consumers to oppose oil and gas cartels and to bring market principles to the natural gas industry. The U.S. should also liberalize its own regulations to allow energy exploration in the Arctic, in the Rocky Mountains, and along the Pacific and Atlantic Continental shelves.

Russia's Global Gas Strategy

Moscow is playing a complex and sophisticated game, one that is likely to maximize its advantages as the leading gas producer with the largest reserves on the planet.

First, Russia's approach is gradualist. Moscow has never been openly enthusiastic about a gas cartel but has waited for an opportunity to launch one. Viktor Khristenko, Russia's Vice Premier in charge of energy, rejected the idea just days before President Putin called a gas OPEC "an interesting idea" during his February 2007 visit to Qatar. This past week, however, in Doha, Khristenko said, "We have not, do not have, and will not have the goal of organizing an alliance against anyone."

The message in the Russian media after the summit was that no documents were signed to create a gas cartel—a useful message for Gazprom, the Russian state-owned gas monopoly. But careful examination of the official announcement and media reports reveals that there is reason for concern.

Second, Russia's approach is stealthy. Instead of announcing the cartel prematurely, and spooking consumer countries, it is quietly putting the component parts into place. In Doha, Russia initiated the creation of a "High Level Group" that will "research" the pricing of gas and develop methodologies using commonly accepted gas pricing models. Conveniently, Russia will staff this group.

Third, Russia is able to appear reasonable. The immediate price-regulating function of the emerging cartel is supported by those Latin American countries that want to dispense with market principles in the gas trade: Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina. With Iran and Venezuela (supported by Bolivia and Argentina) applying their OPEC-honed instincts to gas and demanding price regulation, Russia can afford to stand aside and let others do the talking. Nevertheless, an unnamed "high ranking member of the Russian delegation" to Doha told RIA Novosti that "as the gas market undergoes globalization, certainly such an organization [a gas cartel] will appear and is necessary."

Fourth, and most importantly, a cartel by any other name is still a cartel. Members of the GECF agreed to discuss dividing up the consumer markets between them, particularly in Europe, where Russia and Algeria are major players. For example, if Russia agrees not to challenge Algeria's position in Spain, Algeria will steer clear of Germany. This will clearly challenge the European Union's energy liberalization and gas deregulation policy, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

The group members plan to "reach strategic understandings" on export volumes, schedules of deliveries, and the construction of new pipelines. They also plan to jointly explore and develop gas fields and coordinate start-ups and production schedules. To continue their work, members will gather for their next annual meeting in Moscow and plan to create a permanent secretariat. Despite protestations to the contrary, this has all the characteristics of a cartel in the making.

Not Tomorrow

Oil is a global commodity, but natural gas is not. When it is piped, prices are set as far as 15 to 20 years in advance through long-term contracts. However, liquid natural gas (LNG) is rapidly becoming a worldwide commodity.

By 2010, LNG's share of the world's total gas consumption will double. Thus, price gouging through production quota manipulation may come faster than many experts expect if the GECF becomes a new OPEC and if consumer nations do not unite and flex their muscle. Moreover, Russia and Iran are interested in increasing their geopolitical leverage against the EU in areas which often have little to do with energy.

Major gas producers share another characteristic. Qatar, Turkmenistan, Brunei, and Venezuela, to name just a few, have one feature in common: a democracy deficit. Just like OPEC, the gas cartel will be a formidable global force that can be used to oppose, challenge, and possibly weaken market-based democracies through high prices and wealth transfer. Such a cartel may cut deals with similarly undemocratic large-scale consumers, while forcing the West to pay full price.

Coordinated Global Action Needed

The Bush Administration barely reacted to the Doha meeting. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–FL), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to the Secretary of State that the establishment of a gas OPEC would be a "major and long-term threat to the world energy supply" which the U.S. should "vigorously oppose." Officials express grave concern, but only in private.

As the case of OPEC demonstrates, closing markets to competition, promoting national oil companies (NOCs), and limiting production through a quota system results in limited supply and higher oil prices. Gas, in the long run, will not be different. The United States should open its vast natural gas resources on- and off- shore to further exploration and production and encourage its neighbors in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean to do the same.

Finally, the Bush Administration must develop a clear global policy to limit cartelization of the gas markets. Specifically, the U.S. should work with the European Union member states, Japan, China, India, and other countries to prevent the cartelization of the gas sector. This can be accomplished through cooperation in the International Energy Agency, which China and India should be invited to join, and by applying anti-trust legislation worldwide against state-owned companies that are actively involved in cartel-like behavior in energy markets. The U.S. should also work closely with those within GCEF who oppose Russian–Iranian domination. These include Azerbaijan, Canada, the Netherlands, and Norway. The National Security Council and the National Economic Council should take the lead in developing this policy. Unless buyer solidarity is translated into action, energy consumers and economic growth will suffer worldwide.

Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation.

 

Miami River dredging gets funds

South Florida Business Journal - 4:06 PM EDT Friday, April 13, 2007

About $3.5 million in federal funding has been approved to continue dredging of the Miami River, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said.

The appropriating will allow for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to re-commence their work in June and July of this year.

"This $3.5 million will be crucial to the continued dredging of the Miami River and the overall health of this important waterway," said Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami. "A clean and deep river will ensure that our South Florida community continues to grow economically and provide the necessary jobs that are crucial for our economy."

The $74 million project to remove contaminated sediment, which began in 2004, is expected to boost commerce along the 5.5-mile channel, the state's only shallow-draft port.